Volume 1 Chapter 574

Chapter 574: Congratulations, Patricia!

Upon hearing the word "Pope,"

Patricia put all her effort into not calling out.

Although it could be said objectively…

The appearance of the Pope could not make Patricia’s situation any worse.

Any one of the people present would have been enough to deal with her.

The camel that is already crushed doesn’t mind what else is added.

However, the Pope still carried a different weight of importance.

Like a camel, it was destined to be crushed.

Even if it was going to be crushed anyway.

But being crushed by stones, straw, or goods was completely different from being crushed by a steamroller.

And the "Pope" was undoubtedly like placing a T-Rex on the camel’s back.

Did it sound very hard to understand?

Patricia thought so too!

She really wanted to ask, why.

You should know, the Pope of the Church of Light…

Had not been heard from in over ten years!

Even if you were not from the Church of Light, you could probably guess that the Pope was most likely in poor health.

It made sense to think this way; this Pope had been in power for five hundred years!

He should have reached the end of his life.

Even if the Church of Light could hide this news… the Pope not showing up for so long was the best evidence!

Even the Lady of Light was captured in the demon race’s territory, and the Pope did not make a move.

Was this not enough to indicate the problem?

Even if the Pope had concerns and could not act directly to save her, he should have at least shown some response!

However, in reality, the Pope didn’t show anything at all.

He didn’t even make a sound.

Moreover, with the talk of the Pope’s election growing louder, many bishops from abroad had recently returned to the Holy Lieto Empire and even the Papal State.

Although the Holy Lieto Empire was preparing to name an heir and establish the first in line for the throne as a distraction, anyone with clear sight could understand.

Simply naming an heir did not cause such a big commotion.

And most importantly…

This smoke bomb had been used too many times!

The Church of Light had existed for such a long time.

Several times, when there was a change in the pope, they purposely combined it with events like the Holy Lieto Empire’s heir and the new emperor’s coronation.

To serve as a distraction for the pope’s transition.

It’s not possible that every elderly person at home falls ill at the end of each term!

Even if it were true, the counselor or homeroom teacher would have to call home to confirm it several times!

Of course, the Church of Light didn’t really mind if people found out…

After all, every country and power has its own intelligence network, and such big events cannot be kept a secret.

If you want to investigate, just ask ordinary people in the Holy Empire, and you’ll get enough information to figure out this conclusion.

The Church of Light was just using this smoke bomb for show.

After all, no one in the continent’s Church of Light would really risk their life to stab someone at this chance.

That’s why they still covered it up a bit…

It was like a show for appearances, or even a tradition of the church.

So, Patricia felt quite wronged.

Why did the pope, who had been hidden away for so long, suddenly appear when he should be safe in the Church of Light or Eden Palace?

Am I really just in time for the first voting meeting of all the high-ranking members of the Church of Light for the new pope?

That made Patricia feel even more wronged.

What bad luck have I run into?!

And in this situation…

Doesn’t she feel a bit out of place as a small regional bishop, "Hume Valentina," being here?

Patricia had reason to suspect that she had been exposed and targeted.

However, reason told her…

Even so, it couldn’t be.

Because even a seat in the highest Sage Council of the Wizard Association, the identity of the "Morning Star" Great Sage…

Didn’t need such a grand display.

She didn’t have that much influence in the Wizard Association!

Even her teacher, who was once a demi-god, wouldn’t have needed such a big fuss to deal with her.

Even treating the pope like this was already a special case, but it was still somewhat reasonable.

Adding the pope…

Who was Patricia to deserve this?

Why use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken?

Although, theoretically, the Wizard Association could be considered a force similar to the Church of Light, it was just a bit loose.

As one of the Great Sages, and inheriting the position of Great Sage Morning Star, Patricia could at least be compared to a Privy Bishop…

However, this was like the Polish foreign minister Beck visiting the Soviet Union.

Is it necessary for Comrade Stalin to hold a meeting?

Especially during the meeting, Marshal Konstantin kindly sat on my left, Marshal Zhukov smiled and sat behind me on the right, and Marshal Konev was resting in front of me.

The voice coming from the stage was that of Comrade Stalin, who, despite being unwell, was still speaking through the broadcast in his deep tone.

It was somewhat frightening.

Patricia couldn’t think of anyone on the mainland who would receive such treatment…

However, she quickly thought of one.

Lolthlinda might actually be qualified…

The Chief Consultant of the Demon Army, the Second Princess of the Abyssal Succubus, although she seemed to be at the Holy Domain level… before, she had fought Maria Diana, a demi-god, as if she were a child.

To compare, she was actually just missing a bit of luck compared to Roosevelt.

This was truly heavyweight!

When Guan Yu arrived in Ye City, it was very understandable that Cao Cao urgently called Xu Yu, Guo Jia, and Sima Yi for a meeting.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu came to visit the main tower, it would have been inappropriate for Toyotomi Hideyoshi not to come out to meet him!

Therefore, thinking of Lolth afterwards…

Patricia seriously doubted whether these old men from The Church of Light were mistaken and confused about who she was.

Of course, this was just a thought.

Just as Patricia was lost in her thoughts…

The Pope’s voice echoed again.

That voice was still old and weak.

"This time, we have summoned you all back to the Holy Capital and gathered you at the central church to announce some important matters."

The sitting cardinals and Paladin leaders mostly straightened up.

Even Patricia stopped her restless thoughts and began to listen carefully.

Since we are here…

It won’t hurt to listen.

"The first thing is about some important job changes within The Church of Light."

"First of all… regarding the vacant position of the resident Cardinal and the candidate for Privy Bishop in the Holy Capital Eden Palace…"

"The person I have in mind is…"

"Hume Valentina."

As the Pope said this, Patricia turned pale.

What kind of monster did I replace?

No, that’s not right… The bishop had looked very ordinary at that time…

What does this Pope want to do?!

She felt like her mind was completely blank.

Are you awake?

Congratulations! Comrade Stalin has decided that you will be the next secretary of the Politburo!

Although she finally understood why she was in such an important gathering…

This still did not solve Patricia’s doubts and unease.

Instead, it made her more confused!

"What the heck is all of this?!"

Even if Patricia had ten thousand brains, she would never think of this possibility.

Patricia felt that if someone were telling her now…

Lolth was getting engaged to the evil god tomorrow, she would actually believe it.

Patricia wanted to cry but had no tears.

She could feel that the important figures from The Church of Light were all staring at her.

She didn’t even know if she had exposed herself.

Theoretically, she had definitely exposed herself… no, she should have been exposed long ago.

That kind of clumsy disguise was too hard to hide from these important people.

But looking at their approving gazes, it didn’t seem like it.

At this moment, Patricia still did not realize…

This was not the scariest moment yet.

In the next second…

The Pope’s voice rang out again.

"We invite… the new Cardinal, Hume Valentina, to give a speech."

Patricia could only stand up blankly.

As she tried to clear the chaotic thoughts in her head, she suppressed the raging emotions inside her…

Then, she forced a smile that was somewhat acceptable.

"Hi, everyone!"

"I am Hume Pi… Valentine!"

Patricia said, sweating all over.

She wished this was a bad dream.

But even in her deepest, most bizarre nightmare,

She had never dreamed of becoming a reserve Privy Bishop, giving an inauguration speech to a group of the Church of Light’s Holy Domain demi-gods in the central church of Eden Palace.

But she still forced herself to continue speaking.

"Ah… well, I… I am very happy that everyone still has trust in His Holiness the Pope!"

"To be able to serve together… together… together… it feels wrong to say…"

"I mean, to be here with everyone, uh, in Eden Palace, to live together in the future…"

"I I I I… I am very happy!"

"I also feel, um, filled with glory!"

"May… may the Holy Light shine on you and me, praise the God of Light… um, praise our Lord!"

"Thank you!"

Even Patricia, who was very good with words, spoke with a shaky voice and stuttered.

She had tried very hard.

If it were someone else, they might not have been able to come up with these words.

Patricia even ended by making the most perfect Holy Light annulus gesture over her heart.

And after that disastrous speech…

Patricia had already made up her mind to wait for death.

However…

After about ten seconds of silence in the whole church.

Suddenly, a sound of sniffing broke the quiet.

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound.

They saw a poor cultivator in a dirty robe, with two lines of clear tears running down his face.

"Sorry, everyone… Bishop Hume Valentina spoke very well."

"I can feel that her confused words are filled with the most sincere faith in the Holy Light…"

"I haven’t seen a junior with such pure faith and such genuine feelings in a long time!"

"May the Lord have mercy on you, Bishop Hume."

The kind elder said this and made a clockwise circle on his chest, mimicking the Holy Light annulus.

Then, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Clap, clap, clap."

In fact, it was unclear who started first.

A round of applause arose from the crowd.

Soon, everyone stood up and clapped their hands.

The group of remarkable old men and women, some in Paladin armor and others in cardinal robes, all gathered around Patricia and applauded.

Patricia, in the middle, also shed tears.

She wasn’t moved by the Holy Light or touched by the atmosphere.

Patricia was just scared.

She couldn’t understand what was happening now.

She clapped along with everyone, forcing a shy smile on her face…

It was amazing, but she was gradually… still completely unable to understand all of this.

Patricia’s smile looked stiff on the outside.

But inside her heart, it had already started to roar.

"What the heck is this!!!!!!!!!"

Meanwhile…

Outside the Holy Capital, about a day’s journey by a normal cart, there was a relatively remote village.

Inside a small church, a stripped bishop was hanging upside down under the double-ringed annulus, wearing only a pair of underpants.

His voice was sealed by magic, and he writhed in terror.

Below, on the prayer platform, a bonfire was burning brightly.

In the light of the fire, something that seemed to be burning… perhaps a bishop’s robe was faintly visible.

Sitting next to the bonfire, Lalea used fire magic to keep the bishop’s robe burning, while glancing at Kanor, who was focused on roasting fish.

"I wonder, is it really necessary to burn the bishop’s robe…? Isn’t that a bit extravagant?"

Kanor looked at Lalea and shrugged.

"Isn’t it because you want to taste how delicious ‘extraordinary food’ is…"

"Okay, but is it really necessary to use magical flames for the fire?"

Lalea still asked in confusion.

Kanor gently flipped the fish in her hand, adjusting its angle, searching for the perfect temperature of the dancing flames.

"If you can get magical firewood… then you can use regular flames."

Lalea was speechless again.

"Do people really use magical materials as firewood?"

Even though she was the princess of South Sotua, she had never heard of such a luxury.

In response, Kanor smiled and didn’t say much more.

In the torture tower, don’t even mention firewood…

Even the ashes from the furnace could meet the standard for low-level magic materials.

However, before Lalea arrived at the torture tower, she probably wouldn’t have believed this.

Lalea looked at Kanor without answering and felt as though she was being looked down upon.

She pressed her lips together, raised her head, and saw the bishop still wriggling his plump body.

"But are we being a bit cruel to him?"

Lalea asked.

"Isn’t it cruel that he twisted the teachings, collected a ‘faith tax’ from the villagers without permission, issued ‘Holy Light coupons’, and mixed well water into the holy water?"

"Honestly, I think this punishment is just right for him."

"If he had been a little greedier and gone a bit too far, the people in the village would have been left hungry and cold, and now he would be the one providing fuel."

"I remember there was a saying in the books of The Church of Light… ‘The good deeds and thoughts you do will one day bear good fruit.’"

"He should be thankful for his remaining conscience, or maybe it was his fear that stopped a great disaster, right?"

Kanor casually said, looking up to glance at Lalea.

Lalea licked her lips, wanting to say something.

But in the end, she could only watch the struggling man and nod.

"Alright, you are right."

Lalea felt a bit regretful, wondering why she had tried to make conversation.

This little girl…

As strange as her succubus teacher.

Pushing a book after a long time.

Me, Duke the Couch Potato, Empire’s Peach Blossom Sword!

Synopsis: Lorne Yarsaid.

— He was the famous rogue hero of the Dukedom of Yanor and the chosen one mentioned in the prophecy of history.

Whether it was a pure princess, a noble queen, or a cold witch, even the purest Holy Maiden in the world could not resist his charm!

The world honored him with the title of "Empire’s Peach Blossom Sword" to remember his glorious deeds!

But now, he was just a couch potato who abandoned the princess, staying home doing nothing, weighing two hundred pounds!

"Ah, I’m so bored. I really want to be beaten up by a big sister."

"Young master, please don’t get excited at night, okay?"

The maid with short pink hair looked at him with disdain, her delicate and elegant face filled with dislike.